Volusia School Board considers sales tax wish list

Voters will get a first look this week at what they would get from an extension of Volusia schools' half-cent sales tax if they agree in November to continue paying the tax for 15 extra years.

By Linda Trimblelinda.trimble@news-jrnl.com

DELAND — Voters will get a first look this week at what they would get from an extension of Volusia schools' half-cent sales tax if they agree in November to continue paying the tax for 15 extra years.The project list — which the Volusia County School Board will be asked to approve Tuesday — includes annual investments in security and technology; replacements for five schools and renovations at many others; upgraded middle school science labs; and updated high school athletic facilities.The projected price tag is $414 million, leaving $66 million for inflation and contingencies, from the $480 million the tax would be expected to raise.Voters will be asked to approve the sales tax extension Nov. 4, but collections wouldn't start until January 2017 after the current half-cent sales tax for school construction — which voters approved in 2001 — expires.A citizens' committee that spent the past four months developing the recommended project list for the School Board insisted the estimated budget be adjusted to include inflation and a contingency fund. School district staff had recommended a longer project list that would have required the School Board to find $73 million from other funding sources to complete everything without anything set aside for unexpected cost increases.“I think it was definitely the right thing to do to plan for contingencies, inflation and growth,” said Bob Ludlow, a bank vice president who served on the committee. “It makes this revenue neutral, which I think is the best thing we can do if we're going to extend the sales tax.“We don't know what the future holds,” Ludlow added. “As income rises, then we can decide what to do with it; that's much more business appropriate.” The committee's project list calls for a $45 million investment in security improvements ranging from surveillance cameras to electronic locks and impact resistant windows that would make it tougher for intruders to get on to campuses and buy time for school officials to intercept them.“I think security is going to be a big selling point to get this thing passed,” said committee member Joe Perez, a retired business executive. “We want to make it a lot more difficult for people who have malice or intent to harm someone.“This is going to be an emotional vote,” Perez added. “You have to tug at the heartstrings of the parents.”The School Board is expected to vote on the project list when it meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the School Administrative Complex, 200 N. Clara Ave. Once that's done, the board plans to appoint a second citizens' committee to develop a plan for promoting the tax extension's passage.A key to that, said teacher and project committee member Michele McFall-Conte, will be distinguishing the sales tax from a school property tax such as the one voters rejected in 2012. “I think people might get that confused,” she said.An advantage of a sales tax versus a property tax, supporters say, is that it's paid by everyone including tourists instead of just those who own property.

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